Warez, Abandonware, and the Software Industry

Introduction

What does it mean to own software? When I buy a game, what can and
can't I do with it? Does illegal copying of software really hurt
anyone? If a company no longer sells a game, should I be able to
download a copy of it?

Not too long ago, most people would never have given any of these
questions a thought. But as computer use has spread, and with it the
use of software, these questions have gained in currency.

The battles over software include many combatants. The software
companies are trying to stop the illegal copying of their
products. The abandonware users skirt along the border of legality,
sometimes obtaining permission for their actions, oftentimes not; in
the meantime, they try to distance themselves from the warez crowd as
much as possible. The warez users are the anarchists of the bunch, in
effect saying, "Sure, what we're doing is illegal. So?"

The battles are over control; specifically, control of intellectual
property rights. The creators of software have control over their
creations by means of copyright and trademarks; users of warez and
abandonware sidestep that control for their own ends.

Intellectual property rights are more nebulous than traditional
property rights. If I own something, it's easy to see the harm if my
rights regarding it are infringed: I have lost something tangible.
Intellectual property rights deal with intangibles, and as with all
intangibles it's harder to see the direct harm. If I copy a game you
wrote, you still have the code and can sell your game. What exactly
have you lost?

These issues have become increasingly important with the advent of
easy digital copying and the ready distribution network that is the
Internet. If intellectual property laws are the pipes which help bring
money to the creators, those pipes are springing leaks all
over. Napster made it easy to download songs you don't "own". With
Gnutella you can find plenty of software and music that you'd
otherwise have to buy. Hundreds of Napster-like clones have sprung up
following its demise. Websites have the latest and greatest games, as
well as the old and hard-to-find ones, available for free
downloading.

While the legal arguments regarding pirated software and
abandonware are clear-cut, the moral ones are more muddied. Warez
users, software companies, abandonware users: all have their own take
on the subject.